While taking stock of flour the other day, I came across a bag of 'Farina Semola di Grano Duro' which I had previously bought for making pasta (I think...) I figured it might be suitable for making semolina bread. Never having worked with 100% semolina before, I wasn't sure what to expect but I wanted to get a feel and taste for the flour. With my new starters still in their early stages of life, I went ahead and mixed a really basic direct (commercially-yeasted) dough:

• 500g Farina Semola di Grano Duro (Semolina Pasta Flour, I guess?)
• 300g Water (+ a few tbsp)
• 30g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 10g Salt
• 1 tsp IDY

1. DDT: I didn't have my thermometer to hand, but I used slightly warm water so I estimate my dough was at about 85F. 
2. Mix the flour and yeast together.
3. Dissolve the salt in the water.
4. Stir the water and oil into the flour and mix for about 1 minute until even.
5. Rest the dough for 20 minutes
6. Adjust hydration if dough is too stiff (I added a few tablespoons of water) 
7. Continue kneading to near full gluten development (about 10 minutes by hand).
8. Shape the dough into a ball. (The dough is amazingly easy to handle!)
9. Proof for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in bulk. I performed one stretch and fold during this time which in retrospect, given the strength of the flour, was probably unnecessary.
10. Preheat the oven to 475F
11. Degas and divide the dough.
12. Roughly pre-shape each portion into a ball and rest for 15 minutes.
13. Shape each ball into a batard. In retrospect I maybe should have tried to shape in one step. The dough was quite strong.
14. Proof for 30 to 40 minutes (until poke test springs back slowly half way).
15. Bake at 475F for 10 minutes with steam.
16. Lower temperature to 375F and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown. 

I can't honestly say I was amazed by this bread. It tasted mildly buttery and nutty. The texture was light, soft and moist but the crumb was really quite tight - fluffy but not at all well defined (I don't think this was due to lack of gluten development in the dough). Fortunately, the crust had some great crunch and flavour and made up for the otherwise lacklustre (imho) bread.

Overall, it makes for a great sandwich bread but I'll probably use a sourdough levain and/or longer fermentation in the future to try and bring out more flavour.

Cheers,

FP

Copied from my wordpress blog:

Makes: three 13″x9″ pizzas

Time: 2 days (longer if using refrigerated fermentation) although only about 2 minutes actual mixing time.

Biga Naturale

• 22g mature storage starter (100% hydration)
• 100g all purpose flour
• 50g water

Mix all ingredients evenly and leave to mature overnight (8 to 12 hours) at room temperature until it at least doubles (may triple) in volume.

Sauce

• 600g peeled whole tomatoes 
• 2 tsp sugar (to taste)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt 

1. Separate out the peeled tomatoes from any liquid in the can.
2. Carefully open up each tomato and scoop or lightly rinse out the seeds.
3. Remove the tough part of the tomato (where the vine stem attached to the tomato).
4. Gently squeeze out any excess water and place in a bowl.
5. If the remaining liquid in the can is thick enough and ’sauce like’, pass it through a sieve (to remove seeds) and into the bowl of de-seeded tomatoes. 
6. Crush the tomatoes by hand (or kitchen utensil of choice) until no large lumps remain.
7. Stir in the salt, sugar and oregano.
8. Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours.

Toppings

• 6 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
• 300g partially dried mozzarella (shredded)
• 300g fresh mozzarella (cubed/torn into small pieces)
• other toppings: pepperoni, onion, olives, sausage, mushrooms etc.
• olive oil
• fresh basil 
• grated parmigiano reggiano, grana padano or pecorino cheese (optional)

Final Dough

• 396g bread flour
• 284g all purpose flour
• 532g water
• 170g biga naturale 
• 16g salt

Desired dough temperature: 76F

1. Mix the flour, water, salt and starter until even and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Knead the dough in the mixing bowl by taking the dough from the edge, stretching and folding it over the centre. Continue working around the edge of the dough (turning the bowl with your other hand) until you have stretched about 20 times.
3. Rest the dough for another 20 minutes.
4. Knead the dough as before, one more time.
5. Bulk ferment the dough until doubled in volume (7 to 8 hours at room temperature, ~75F). During bulk fermentation, fold the dough two times (once after an hour of bulk fermentation and again at the 3 hour mark).
6. If you wish to refrigerate the dough, you can do so after 2 hours of bulk fermentation at room temperature. Ideally the refrigeration temperature should be between 40 and 50F where it can stay for 24 hours or so. Give the dough one fold during refrigeration. When you’re ready to take the dough out of the refrigerator to bake, allow it to come to room temperature before dividing, stretching etc.
7. Preheat the oven with a baking stone on mid-shelf to 550F (or as high as it will go) for 1 1/2 hours.
8. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions (roughly 460g each).
9. Grease each pizza tray/pan generously with olive oil. (I used disposable aluminium pans)
10. Stretch each portion over the greased baking tray/pan. If the dough will resists stretching, rest for a few minutes before continuing. It’s easier to stretch the dough if you use wet or oiled hands to push the dough towards the edges.
11. Cover each pan with cling film and allow the dough to proof for a further 30 to 45 minutes.
12. Cover each pizza with a third of the shredded mozzarella.
13. Divide the sliced garlic between the pizzas.
14. Spoon the pizza sauce over the surface in ‘blobs’.
15. Add any other desired toppings.
16. Arrange the fresh mozzarella over the pizzas.
17. Drizzle olive oil over each pizza.
18. Bake the pizza on a baking stone for 12 to 15 minutes until the top is bubbling and the edges have turned crispy and brown.
19. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with fresh basil and grated cheese.
20. While preparing the next pizza for the oven, switch on the broiler to heat the pizza stone for a few minutes before switching back to ‘bake’.
21. Repeat steps 12 through 20 for the other 2 pizzas.

A copy of the recipe from my wordpress blog. 

Makes: a baker's dozen (13!) hot cross buns (~100g each)

This recipe requires 200g of 60% hydration starter. If you don't have enough storage starter then you can make up the required amount the night before you intend to make bread by mixing up the following:

• 115g flour
• 62g water
• 35g mature storage starter (assuming 100% hydration)

Mix and leave to mature overnight.

for the final dough:

• 250g strong bread flour
• 90g whole wheat flour
• 60g rye flour
• 250g mixed dried fruit (for example 100g currants, 100g sultanas/golden raisins, 50g candied peel)
• 200g starter (60% hydration)
• 90g sugar
• 90g butter (room temperature)
• 150g water
• 1 large egg + 1 yolk (~80g)
• 30g golden syrup (you can use glucose or corn syrup instead)
• 30g oil
• 2 tbsp milk powder
• 9g salt
• zest of one orange and one lemon or lime
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• a few tablespoons of milk

for the crosses:

• 50g flour
• 13g icing sugar
• 25g butter
• ~40g water

for the glaze:

• 50g sugar
• 50g water
• 25g honey
• several star anise
• 1 tbsp rose water

1. Mix the flour, starter, water, egg, syrup, oil, milk powder and salt into an even dough.
2. Let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes**
3. Gradually knead in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time until you have a fully developed dough.
4. Bulk ferment the dough in a warm place (75-80F) for 7 to 10 hours until the dough is roughly 1.5 times its original volume. Apply several folds at even intervals during this time.
5. While the dough is rising, mix the spices into the butter until they have been distributed evenly.
6. After bulk ferment, knead the butter into the dough, a tablespoon at a time.
7. Rest the dough for 20 minutes.
8. Gently knead or fold the dried fruit and citrus zest into the dough.
9. Allow the dough to rest for another 10 minutes before dividing and shaping into 12 buns (small boule shape).
10. Place the buns in a cake tin or baking tray and brush with milk.
11. Proof the buns for 8 to 12 hours until they have doubled in volume.
12. Prepare the glaze by heating the sugar, water and star anise in a pan until boiling, and simmer for several minutes. Allow the glaze to cool before stirring in the honey and rose water.
13. For the crosses, rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar. Stir in enough water to make a thick, smooth paste (suitable for piping).
14. After proofing, gently brush the buns once more with milk.
15. Using a piping bag (or plastic bag with a hole in one corner), pipe crosses with the flour paste on to the buns.
16. Bake the buns at 400F for 15 minutes or until they are nicely browned on top.
17. Glaze the buns immediately after baking and once more while they are still warm.

Enjoy!

Please let me know how it went, if you make this recipe. 

FP

** CORRECTION ADDED 9/4/2009 -FP

.

Eager to put my 'new' starters to use, I recently baked some pain au levain with a twist. I used two levains of different hydrations - one stiff whole wheat levain and the other a 125% hydration liquid levain. The whole wheat levain contributed bran and germ and added a nice wheaty note to the flavour (I try to preferment whole grains when possible) while the liquid levain rounded off the acidity and, I think, a lightness to the bread.  Using two levains like this, hopefully gives a good balance of both lactic and acetic flavours without having to go through a long-winded 'three stage' fermentation (a la 'Bread Builders').

The recipe can also be adapted to something more akin to pain de campagne by perhaps adding some rye starter instead of whole wheat (I think Hamelman covers this in his version of pain au levain in 'Bread').

Anyway, I'm sure I'll try many more versions of this in the future. For the time being, if you're curious to try, the recipe is at my blog: http://foolishpoolishbakes.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/pain_aux_deux_levains/

Cheers,

FP

la grignela mie

Some pics from the latest baguette test batch. I'm still finalising the recipe and trying to weigh up the pros and cons of various fermentation strategies but I feel it's finally getting there....

Hopefully a full post soon. 

FP 

Ready to Bake 

Ever since I got a new baking pan (about a month ago), I've been meaning to try my hand at focaccia. So I finally gave it a go today using sourdough starter and tipo 00 flour. The recipe was improvised using a high proportion of starter (100% hydration) to make a slack 73% hydration dough enriched with olive oil.  Bulk fermentation only took 2 hours followed by another 45 minutes in the pan. Not having any fresh herbs to hand, I made do with some pesto and dried herbs. 

This is the second time I've made focaccia (the first time was a commercial-yeast version I made several years ago)...and I think it turned out OK. It's a shame the bottom crust didn't get as coloured as the top. In retrospect I think I should have used a slightly lower heat and not lined the pan with baking parchment. 

Cheers,

FP 

Well I prepared a semolina starter yesterday all ready for baking some semolina-based bread today. Unfortunately I ran out of semolina for the final mix (bought cornmeal by mistake!) so I mixed the semolina starter into a rich sweet dough using lots of egg yolks (5), sugar, milk and butter (25ish percent).  The result was not unlike the milk loaf I made a few weeks ago only much richer. The crumb has nice colour from the semolina and egg yolks. The texture was probably the most  soft and tender that I've ever had in a bread (sourdough or commercial yeast).

The recipe as best as I can recall...

Starter:

200g Semolina 
200g Water
50g Active Starter

Final Dough:

400g Semolina Starter
450g-500g Bread Flour (I actually used some spare Tipo 00 left over from pizza making - it is roughly 11% protein)
200g Milk
150g Butter (softened at room temperature)
100g Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
5g Salt

Glaze:

2tbsp Butter (melted)
1tbsp Honey

The night before, mix together the semolina starter and leave until it reaches peak activity (it should roughly double in volume) - about 12 hours.

The following day, mix the egg yolks, sugar, milk and starter together.  Stir in the flour until you have a slack dough and leave to autolyse for 30 minutes. 

Using a mixer or frissage, gradually incorporate the butter into the dough.

Knead/mix the dough for a further couple of minutes until you obtain a smooth consistency (it will still be quite slack and sticky)

Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes if the butter got too warm.

Bulk ferment at room temperature for 2 hours with stretch-and-fold every half hour (very important).

Divide the dough and shape on a well floured into two loaves and leave to proof for a further 2-3 hours.

Brush the top of each loaf with milk before baking at 375F for 30-40 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean and the top is nicely browned).

After removing the loaf from the oven, brush the top with the butter/honey glaze and allow to cool completely.

Cheers

FP

I had some fun making pizza today using a refrigerated dough (all natural leavening).

The dough was mixed roughly by hand without precise measurements (have not replaced my defunct digital scale yet). I used an intermediate build made from my 100% hydration AP starter, Tipo 00 and water. The final dough was around 60% hydration - I'm guessing. Again I used an organic italian tipo 00 flour (around 11% protein - not like the usual low gluten 00 flour which doesn't work nearly as well). After a short session of 'french folding', the dough was bulk fermented for 2 hours at room temperature with stretch-and-folds at 1/2 hour intervals. Divided the dough and shaped into balls for overnight refrigeration. The next day I simply let them come up to room temperature (about 2 hours) before shaping the pizzas. 

Each pizza was baked on a pizza stone at about 500F (with some help from the broiler) for about 3-4 minutes each. It falls outside of the 700+F, <2 minute napoletana rules...and I didn't use San Marzano tomatoes etc.  but at least it's nice to know that you can make reasonable pizza at home without resorting to oven modifications, wood fired ovens etc. etc.

Basic Margherita-style Pizza. As you can see the basil was sprinkled after baking..something I've seen in pictures of pizza from the reknowned DiFaras. Nothing worse than burnt basil imo.

'Upskirt' shot (apparently that's pizza-speak for under-side) The other pizzas were actually a little better charred than this one...but pizza-covered fingers and cameras do not mix well!

Fennel Sausage Pizza 

Pizza 'crumb' 

Oops! The pizza stretched beyond the stone as I was transfering from the baking sheet to the stone so I had to fold it back over or risk pizza all over the oven floor. Oops! Tasted good though! :) 

FP 

makes: 1 loaf

This makes a very soft and fairly rich sourdough milk loaf. I've included 50g sugar in the recipe which reflects my sweet tooth more than anything (adjust according to taste).  The large amount of preferment gives a very quick rise although as you can see from the pictures I underproofed mine a little (late night baking).

First Build

125g AP Flour
125g Water
12g Active Starter 

Final Dough

375g AP Flour (use a stronger flour if you want a slightly more open crumb)
250g First Build
210g Milk (+1 tbsp for brushing)
50g Melted Butter
50g Sugar (adjust according to taste. I like mine on the sweet side)
5g Salt (add more if using unsalted butter)

Prepare the first build the day before baking and allow to mature for 12-18 hours until it reaches peak activity. 

Mix all of the first build, sugar, salt, milk and melted butter in a bowl.

Add the flour and stir until the mixture is fairly evenly mixed.

Leave the dough to autolyse for 20 minutes

Knead the dough using your preferred method to obtain medium gluten development (about 5 minutes by french fold). The dough will be quite slack - this is normal. 

Bulk ferment for 2 hours (with 2 stretch and folds at 40 minute intervals)

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a loaf.

Proof the loaf in it's tin until the dough has nearly doubled in height (about 1 1/2 hours)

Brush the top of the loaf with milk and score as desired.

Bake at 400F for 10 minutes followed by a further 25-30 minutes at 350F until done (internal temperature 200F). If the crust starts getting brown too quickly, cover it with foil and continue baking.

Allow the loaf to cool for at least one hour before slicing (ok so I didn't actually follow my own instructions here!) 

As an extra indulgence you could brush the top with butter while it cools.

Enjoy!

FP

Some pics of the fruits from a week long (and ongoing) experiment:

Pleased as punch with the result. With less hurried and more careful handling, I could have pushed for a more open crumb  but the dough was so active it was leaving the confines of the container.  I literally plonked the entire thing on a baking sheet and straight into a less-than-ready oven.

For me, the crumb texture is spot on, between chewy and fluffy.  The flavour is great and I suspect will be even better tomorrow.  The crust was making wonderful crackling/popping noises as I took it out of the oven.  

Despite several of my starters being rather 'touch and go' recently (I've been trimming down on how much starter I maintain), I've learned a lot through this last week which has significantly changed my understanding and approach to sourdough and bread-making in general.

Cheers for now, 

FP